Retrieve values in SQL Server Stored Procedures with ADO

Article
06/20/2023

This article shows how to retrieve values in SQL Server Stored Procedures with ADO.

Original product version: SQL Server
Original KB number: 194792

Summary

There are important issues to consider when attempting to retrieve RAISERROR/PRINT/RETURN values from SQL Server stored procedures through ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). Here are three issues:

RAISERROR statements in SQL Server must be a severity level of 11-18.
PRINT statements in SQL Server can also populate the ADO errors collection. However, PRINT statements are severity level zero (0) so, at least one RAISERROR statement is required in the stored procedure to retrieve a PRINT statement with ADO through the Errors collection.
RETURN values in a stored procedure must be associated with at least one resultset.

More information

The following code sample demonstrates browsing the ADO Errors collection to access the RAISERROR/PRINT/RETURN detail from a SQL Server stored procedure returning multiple resultsets:

Paste and execute the following code in the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) window after creating Pubs database to create the stored procedure used for the ADO sample in step 4:

use pubs
GO

if exists (select * from sysobjects where id = object_id('dbo.ADOTestRPE') and sysstat & 0xf = 4)
    drop procedure dbo.ADOTestRPE
GO

create procedure ADOTestRPE
 (
     @SetRtn INT=0 OUTPUT,
     @R1Num INT=1,
     @P1Num INT=1,
     @E1Num INT=1,
     @R2Num INT=2,
     @P2Num INT=2,
     @E2Num INT=2
 )
 AS
 DECLARE @iLoop INT
 DECLARE @PrintText VARCHAR(255)
 DECLARE @iErrNum INT

/* Check for no Resultsets - needed to get the RETURN value back */ 
 IF @R1Num + @R2Num = 0 SELECT NULL

/* Resultset 1 ******************************* */ 

IF @R1Num > 0
    BEGIN
        SET ROWCOUNT @R1Num
        SELECT 'Resultset 1' RsNum, Title
        FROM Pubs..Titles
        SET ROWCOUNT 0
    END

/* Must raise a default error context in which to return the PRINT */ 
 /* statement */ 
 /* (if none present) since PRINT statements are a severity level of */ 
 /*0. */ 
IF (@P1Num > 0) AND (@E1Num = 0) RAISERROR ("RAISERROR.PError1", 11, 2)

IF @P1Num > 0
    BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = 0
        WHILE @iLoop < @P1Num
        BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = @iLoop + 1
        SELECT @PrintText = 'PRINT.Resultset.1: Line ' +
        CONVERT(char(2), @iLoop)
        PRINT @PrintText
    END
END

IF @E1Num > 0
    BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = 0
        WHILE @iLoop < @E1Num
        BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = @iLoop + 1
        SELECT @iErrNum = @iLoop + 201000
        RAISERROR ("RAISERROR.Resultset.1", 11, 2)
    END
END

/* Resultset 2 ******************************* */ 

IF @R2Num > 0
    BEGIN
        SET ROWCOUNT @R2Num
        SELECT 'Resultset 2' RsNum, Title
        FROM Pubs..Titles
        SET ROWCOUNT 0
    END

/* Must raise a default error context in which to return the PRINT */ 
/* statement */ 
/* (if none present) since PRINT statements are a severity level of */ 
/* 0. */ 
IF (@P2Num > 0) AND (@E2Num = 0) RAISERROR ("RAISERROR.PError2",11, 2)

IF @P2Num > 0
 BEGIN
 SELECT @iLoop = 0
 WHILE @iLoop < @P2Num
 BEGIN
 SELECT @iLoop = @iLoop + 1
 SELECT @PrintText = 'PRINT.Resultset.2: Line ' +
 CONVERT(char(2), @iLoop)
 PRINT @PrintText
 END
 END

IF @E2Num > 0
    BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = 0
        WHILE @iLoop < @E2Num
        BEGIN
        SELECT @iLoop = @iLoop + 1

        SELECT @iErrNum = @iLoop + 202000
        RAISERROR ("RAISERROR.Resultset.2", 11, 2)
    END
END

/* Return & Output ************************************ */ 

select @SetRtn = -1
RETURN @SetRtn
GO

Create a Standard .EXE project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default.
From the Project menu, choose References and select the Microsoft ActiveX Data Objects Library.

Note

You must use ADO version 2.0 or later for the code to work correctly. You can obtain the latest Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) components on the Web at: MDAC.

Place a Command button on the Form, and then paste the following code in the General Declarations section of the Form. You may need to change the database connect string for your environment.

'This Code demonstrates RAISERROR/PRINT/RETURN values with ADO and
'multiple resultsets.

Sub CreateParms()

Dim ADOCmd As New ADODB.Command
Dim ADOPrm As New ADODB.Parameter
Dim ADOCon As ADODB.Connection
Dim ADORs As ADODB.Recordset
Dim sParmName As String
Dim strConnect As String
Dim rStr As String

On Error GoTo ErrHandler

strConnect = "driver={SQL
Server};server=(local);uid=sa;pwd=;database=pubs"

Set ADOCon = New ADODB.Connection
With ADOCon
.Provider = "MSDASQL"
.CursorLocation = adUseServer 'Must use Server side cursor.
.ConnectionString = strConnect
.Open
End With

Set ADOCmd.ActiveConnection = ADOCon
With ADOCmd
.CommandType = adCmdStoredProc
.CommandText = "ADOTestRPE"
End With

'Parameter 0 is the stored procedure Return code.
sParmName = "Return"
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamReturnValue, , 0)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = -1

'Parameter 1 is the setting for the stored procedure Output
' parameter.
sParmName = "Output"
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamOutput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 999

'Parameter 2
sParmName = "R1Num" 'Number of rows to return in Resultset 1.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 1

'Parameter 3
sParmName = "P1Num" 'Number of PRINT statements in Resultset 1.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 0

'Parameter 4
sParmName = "E1Num" 'Number of RAISERROR statements in Resultset
'1.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 0

'Parameter 5
sParmName = "R2Num" 'Number of rows to return in Resultset 2.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 2

'Parameter 6
sParmName = "P2Num" 'Number of PRINT statements in Resultset 2.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 0

'Parameter 7
sParmName = "E2Num" 'Number of RAISERROR statements in Resultset
' 2.
Set ADOPrm = ADOCmd.CreateParameter(sParmName, adInteger, _
adParamInput)
ADOCmd.Parameters.Append ADOPrm
ADOCmd.Parameters(sParmName).Value = 0

Set ADORs = ADOCmd.Execute

Do While (Not ADORs Is Nothing)
    If ADORs.State = adStateClosed Then Exit Do
    While Not ADORs.EOF
        For i = 0 To ADORs.Fields.Count - 1
        rStr = rStr & " : " & ADORs(i)
    Next i
    Debug.Print Mid(rStr, 3, Len(rStr))
    ADORs.MoveNext
    rStr = ""
    Wend
    Debug.Print "----------------------"
    Set ADORs = ADORs.NextRecordset
Loop

Debug.Print "Return: " & ADOCmd.Parameters("Return").Value
Debug.Print "Output: " & ADOCmd.Parameters("Output").Value

GoTo Shutdown

ErrHandler:
Call ErrHandler(ADOCon)
Resume Next

Shutdown:
Set ADOCmd = Nothing
Set ADOPrm = Nothing
Set ADORs = Nothing
Set ADOCon = Nothing

End Sub

Private Sub Command1_Click()

Call CreateParms

End Sub

Sub ErrHandler(objCon As Object)

Dim ADOErr As ADODB.Error
Dim strError As String

For Each ADOErr In objCon.Errors
    strError = "Error #" & ADOErr.Number & vbCrLf & ADOErr.Description _
    & vbCr & _
    " (Source: " & ADOErr.Source & ")" & vbCr & _
    " (SQL State: " & ADOErr.SQLState & ")" & vbCr & _
    " (NativeError: " & ADOErr.NativeError & ")" & vbCr
    If ADOErr.HelpFile = "" Then
        strError = strError & " No Help file available" & vbCr & vbCr
    Else
        strError = strError & " (HelpFile: " & ADOErr.HelpFile & ")" _
        & vbCr & _
        " (HelpContext: " & ADOErr.HelpContext & ")" & _
        vbCr & vbCr
    End If
    Debug.Print strError
Next

objCon.Errors.Clear

End Sub

Change the value of parameters two through seven to alter the number of PRINT statements and/or RAISERROR statements generated by the stored procedure and returned through ADO. Run the Visual Basic code sample again and note that the RAISERROR and PRINT statements are returned through the ADO errors collection. Change the values to experiment with different combinations of PRINT/RAISERROR statements with different resultsets. Refer to the SQL stored procedures for specific workarounds for special cases.

To retrieve a RETURN value in ADO with a stored procedure, there must be at least one resultset. In order to work around this problem, when no resultsets are specified (in the ADO sample code) the stored procedure executes a SELECT NULL to return a null resultset to ADO thereby populating the RETURN value. In addition, to work around the issue of specifying no RAISERROR statements and a combination of PRINT statements, default RAISERROR statements are generated in order to provide a context for returning the PRINT statement via ADO. You must code RAISERROR statements in the format shown in the stored procedure because only severity levels of 11-18 return through the ADO errors collection.

References

RAISERROR (Transact-SQL)

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Retrieve values in SQL Server Stored Procedures with ADO

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